Mo Fine (left), one of the filmmakers that brought the Tumbleweed Film Festival to Oroville at Esther Bricques Winery, with fellow Seattle filmmakers Charles Forsgren and Tim Watkins, whose film “Dishonesty” took Tumbleweed’s “Best of Fest” awar

OROVILLE – Seattle filmmakers Charles Forsgren and Tim Watkins took “Best of Fest” with their film “Dishonesty” at the first annual Tumbleweed Film Festival held lastweekend in Oroville.

“This year’s festival went beyond our expectations, as the turnout was great. We’re already making plans to continue the growth and excitement for next year’s festival,” said Geoff Klein, who with fellow Seattle filmmaker Mo Fine and several of their friends from Seattle and Oroville brought the film festival to town for its inaugural run.

“We really appreciated the community’s support for the film festival and for the opportunity to make it happen,” Klein said. “It was great that we had guests from the U.S. and Canada and from as far away as Germany.”

The short film festival attracted about 120 people total at its two venues on Friday andSaturday, with even a few film-goers attending both night’s showings. On Friday night at Esther Bricques’ Winery he audience was treated to 12 short films with six shown in each one-hour segment with a break in between. Shown were “The Dream” , “Sleepwalker” , “Alma” , “Prizes” , “Time Machine” , “Baxter’s Big Day” ,”Sacred Symphony” , “Wonder Hospital” , “Dishonesty” , “Painter ofSkies” , “Estes Ave.” and “Miracle Fish.” “Dishonesty,” a film about relationships, was the winner of the Best of Fest, but Baxter’s Big Day, byKlein and Fine, about a dog who fills in at the corporate office and gives a presentation after his master’s car breaks down was certainly a fan favorite.”Alma” , “Wonder Hospital” and “Painter of Skies” were foreign animated shorts and definitely a little creepy, though beautifully crafted.

Steve and LindaColvin, owners of the winery went out of their way to make the movie-goers comfortable with their new addition to their tasting room and winery, as well as with food catered by Diana Taylor.

After wine a tasting event the next day held at Taber’s Taste of Summer Fruit Barn featuringCopper Mountain Wines, the film festival’s “Watch Globally, Drink Locally” motto was continued at its next venue at Alpine Brewery in downtown Oroville.

The Saturday evening showings were hosted by Bart Truabek, owner of the brewery, as well asKen and Bonni Mathews of Lake Crest Winery, Linda and Steve Colvin of Esther Bricques and Judi Taber of Copper Mountain. Wines from Okanogan Estate andVineyards were also available thanks to the Mathews who poured for Oroville’s fourth local winery as well.

At the Brewery the movies were “Follow the Flow”, “Live Henry Live”, “Adelide”, “Mei Ling” and”A Few Marbles More” during the first hour and “Living Planet”, “The Furry”,”Last Hand Standing” , “Ladenhueter” and “True Beauty this Night.””Ladenhueter,” from Germany, like the other foreign entries, had subtitles, but weren’t needed for the several German-speaking attendees to the festival in town to visit the brewery owner.

Each night those who watched the movies were asked to rank them between one and five, with five being the highest. The votes were then tallied to give the festival organizers an idea of what movies were liked best.

“Kudos to Steve and Linda at Esther Bricques, Bart at Alpine Brewing and Judi at ;Copper Mountain for all their hard work and for believing in us.Without their help, this event probably wouldn’t have happened!” Klein said.”We’d also like to thank Oroville Chamber of Commerce President and our friendGary DeVon for all his help and the Okanogan Valley Gazette-Tribune for alltheir coverage leading up to the festival.”

Attendees that would like to further comment on their experience can go to http://www.tumbleweedfilmfest.com/.Suggestions on how to improve the festival are welcome by the organizers at <ahref=”mailto:info@tumbleweedfilmfest.com”>mailto:info@tumbleweedfilmfest.com..